"Are you sure of the exact words?"
"Pretty sure. Yeah, it was back when the Will was a frog in Suzy's throat. It said something like “The Great Architect went away” or “The Architect then went away.”"
"It never said that She was killed or slain by her own servants, the Morrow Days?"
Arthur dropped the cup he'd just picked up, the cranberry juice spreading like spilt blood towards the papers, till the liquid was hastily blotted up with a cloth by the Steward.
"What?! No! The Will said something about choosing to go away or it was her own choice. It never said anything about her getting killed... Do you think the Morrow Days killed her? The Architect of everything? How would they do that?"
"Some authorities claim She is dead, or returned to Nothing, which is the same thing," said Monckton. "We wanted to know what the Will had said to you, because the Will probably knows, and it would not lie to the Rightful Heir."
"I don't know about that," said Arthur. "I reckon it would lie if it suited it. And the First Part of the Will used to say it didn't know enough because it was only one-seventh of the whole Will. Though I have to say since it became Dame Primus it acts like it knows everything."
"You really think the Will might lie to you?"
Arthur thought for a moment. He couldn't think of any time when the Will had told him an outright lie, but he still had the feeling that it would if it thought it might help its cause. It would certainly lie by omission, choosing not to tell him things if he didn't ask for them.
"Yes, I think it would, but only if it thought it needed to. You know, to make me do something the Rightful Heir should do."
"That is interesting. We had hoped to learn definitively what has happened to the Architect, but clearly that is not yet possible. Thank you, Arthur. Do you have your third question?"
"I might save it for the time being, if that's all right." Arthur didn't want to waste his last question and he needed to think things through.
"You may do so," said Monckton. "Of course that means we will also still have a question for you."
"That's fine," Arthur agreed. He sat quietly for a moment, going over a rough plan in his head. "I want to send some other messages as well," he finally said. "Do you have a bottle on board the Moth? The salvage ship I was on."
"I don't think so," replied Longtayle. He pulled out a small book from his pocket and started to flick through it. "I'll check the list."
"Is there any other way to get a message to them?"
"There are numerous ways," said Monckton. "But most rely on sorcery, and we do not practise House sorcery, save for navigation. If Wednesday's Dawn is still here, she might send a message for you. She has many powers within the Border Sea."
"I'd like to talk to her," said Arthur. "But she told me she had urgent business to attend to."
"We don't have a bottle or anyone on the Moth, but I'll send someone to check if Wednesday's Dawn is still over at the Triangle," said Longtayle. He opened the door and spoke quickly to the Rat who stood at attention there.
"Sorcery..." said Arthur. He suddenly remembered Scamandros had put something in his pocket. Arthur had meant to transfer it to his boot so it would be safe, but he'd forgotten. Was it still there? He reached into the deep pocket and for a moment thought it was gone. Then his fingers closed on something cool and metallic in the corner.
He realised then that Longtayle and Monckton were looking at him curiously, so he hastily pulled his hand out. The Rats were probably trustworthy, but they didn't need to know everything, particularly if they were going to be trading information with him. Arthur needed to keep some secrets in reserve.
"Would you care to be shown to your cabin?" asked Longtayle. "It will take an hour or so to build up steam, then we will be on our way. Earlier, if the wind shifts and we can sail. The breeze is against us for Port Wednesday at the moment, but it may change."
"Thanks," said Arthur. He thought he could take a look at whatever Scamandros gave him in the cabin, and maybe use the shell and mirror to check out how Leaf was doing.
"You shall have my cabin, which is opposite," said Longtayle as he opened the door and indicated another one across the passage. There was already a replacement sailor Rat on sentry outside, who stood aside and saluted. The Rats ran a much more disciplined ship than the Moth, Arthur noted.
Arthur bowed to the sentry, crossed the passage, and went into his cabin. It was smaller than the room he'd been in, no more than fifteen feet long and twelve feet wide, with a folded-up bunk on one bulkhead and a folded-down desk and chair on the wall.
Arthur sat down and pulled his boots off as part of the process of retrieving the Atlas, Wednesday's invitation, the shell, and the mirror. He put all these things into his inside coat pockets, then took out the metal object Scamandros had given him.
It was egg-shaped and made of gold, and there was a small curved catch on the side. Arthur flicked this up and the egg opened. One side was a watch, with an ivory face and ornate numbers picked out in tiny emeralds. The two hands were made from some kind of faintly glowing blue metal. The other side had a miniature portrait of Doctor Scamandros. It was very lifelike. As Arthur looked at the painting, the tattoos on his face began to move, and the pale blue sky behind him changed to show a background of dark smoke and dimly lit figures that were either fighting or dancing. At the same time, the Doctor's head turned away, as if he was looking behind him.
Arthur gasped, and Doctor Scamandros looked back. His wild eyes met Arthur's.
"Arthur!" shrieked the tiny figure, barely audible over the sudden din of screams, shouts, explosions, and clashing metal that came through as well. "Help! Give me your hand!"
Without even thinking about it, Arthur touched the miniature with his finger. It was instantly seized and drawn in somewhere, along with Arthur's other fingers and then his whole hand. He felt someone — or something — grip it fiercely. Panicked, Arthur pulled back as hard as he could.
It was like trying to pick up a very heavy weight — Arthur felt his elbow and shoulder joints stretch and almost crack. He leaned back and put his feet against the wall, pulling with all his strength. Then suddenly he was lying on his back and Doctor Scamandros was sprawled next to him on the floor.
"Shut the watch!" squealed Scamandros. "Shut the watch!"
Arthur leapt up. Just as he reached for the watch, he heard a strange zinging sound, and a long, oily flame shot out of the open watch and struck the iron ceiling, the flames burning off the paint and sending billows of choking smoke everywhere.
Arthur, thankful he was still wearing gloves, swiped at the watch, shutting it with one blow. The oily flame disappeared as the watch shut, but there was still lots of smoke. Arthur, coughing and rubbing his eyes, opened the door and the porthole to let it out, then turned to Scamandros, who was still lying on the floor.
"Are you all right? Where did you come from — and how?"
"Just recovering my strength," gasped Doctor Scamandros. "You called at an opportune time, Lord Arthur. Thank the Architect I had the foresight to give you my transfer watch!"
"Is that what it is?"
"Yes, one of my graduation projects." Scamandros tried to get up, but got tangled in the tails of his yellow greatcoat, till Arthur gave him a hand. "I had thought I might need to merely talk with you again, but the transfer was most fortunate."
"Why? What's happened to the Moth and everyone?"
"The Moth has been taken," said Scamandros, his eyes downcast. "By the pirate Feverfew."
"What —?"
Arthur was interrupted by shouts of "Fire!" from outside, followed a few seconds later by several seaman Rats bursting in with buckets and a hose, fortunately not yet fully up to pressure so it only dribbled water.